Right wing populism in Denmark: People, Nation and Welfare in the Construction of the ‘Other’

Scholars generally agree that Denmark and the other Scandinavian countries represent an ‘exceptionalism’ in terms of welfare state and gender regimes, and it has been argued that this context also influenced the way populism has emerged, developed and consolidated in the past half century. In particular, part of the scholarly literature in the Nordic context focuses on the interesting relation between nationalism and populism, suggesting that contemporary forms of populism have been shaped and influenced by the particular historical context and the construction and perception of ‘the people’ and ‘the nation’. This is illustrated by the way the nationalist populist Danish People’s Party discursively constructs and relates to the national question and to what are seen as the threats against the Danish nation and national values coming from migration flows, European integration and Islam. This approach to the nation state carries clear historical legacies. Scholars have noticed that Scandinavia developed a particular form of ‘welfare nationalism’, which since the 1960s and 70s links national, social and democratic issues with social equality, democracy and gender equality in the construction of ‘national belonging’. The chapter suggests that these understandings of the nation have in recent decades been taken and re-interpreted by the populist right.

Our contribution will focus on the case study of the Danish People’s Party and the Freedom of Press Society. One set of issues is the relation between Danish populism and welfare nationalism/national politics of belonging, focusing on the intersections of the nation, the people and the welfare state from historical perspectives. To what extent is it possible to identify a particular Nordic exceptionalism that links to Social democracy? To what extent can we identify a specific Danish exceptionalism linked to the particular Danish history and democracy?

In spite or perhaps because of these historical legacies, the Nordic countries face problems with integrating immigrant minorities as equal citizens on the labour market and in society and with accommodating ethno-cultural and religious diversity. Mainstream political parties have since the 1990s been engaged in re-thinking and reframing the relation between the national, the democratic and the social questions. Arguably, it is within these cleavages that the influential Scandinavian populist Danish Peoples’ Party managed to mobilise the Danish voters. But while scholarly literature mostly focussed on political parties we propose that an important contribution to the ideological development of populism also comes from movements, such as The Association for Freedom of Speech (Trykkefrihedsselskabet, TF), by means of a discourse and rhetoric mobilizing national sentiments and consensus through the superior role played by Liberal Western democracies in the fight for freedom and liberty (e.g. freedom of speech). Here Danish exceptionalism is embedded in a culturalist ideology giving priority to what are designated as ‘our’ values, principles and rights against the threat represented by Islam and Muslim immigration. Finally we look at the role of civil organisations in combating hate speech and crime against the ‘other’.